A horrifying video has shown the moment Bondi beachgoers run for their lives as gunmen opened fire on Sunday. Posted on social media, the footage shows crowds running from Australia’s iconic Sydney beach where at least two gunmen attacked a Hanukkah celebration. Panicking beachgoers can be seen rushing up a set of stairs away from the beach and clambering over railings as they dash for safety.
At least 12 people were killed in the horrific attack, and 29 were confirmed wounded at the time of writing. Australia‘s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, described the attack as an act of antisemitic terrorism which struck at the heart of the nation. Police shot dead one gunman while the second was arrested and is in a critical condition, according to the authorities. One of the gunmen was known to the security services, but no specific threat had been identified prior to the attack.
FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ON THE ATTACK.
The video of crowds fleeing the beach has been credited to Mike Ortiz, 30, who lives in Belmore, a suburb of Sydney. He told the Telegraph he was sitting on a patch of grass looking over the beach when he heard about 10 gunshots.
As the shots continued, he started filming. He told the publication: « It happened so fast, we heard gunshots, immediately everyone was running away. I couldn’t see directly where it was all happening. »
Another dramatic clip broadcast on Australian television showed a man appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called the man, named by relatives to Australian media as fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed, a « genuine hero ».
The violence erupted at the end of a hot day when thousands had flocked to Bondi Beach, including hundreds gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.
Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement which runs outreach centres around the world and sponsors public events during major Jewish holidays, identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organiser of the event. He was born in the UK.
His family have described him as a « joyful rabbi ». The father-of-five grew up in Temple Fortune, north London, and had family members at Kinloss Synagogue in Finchley, according to Jewish News.
The 41-year-old and his wife, Chayala, celebrated the birth of their youngest child, a boy, just two months ago.
His cousin, Brighton-based Rabbi Zalman Lewis, told Jewish News: « How can a joyful rabbi who went to a beach to spread happiness and light, to make the world a better place, have his life ended in this way? »
Malcolm Lanyon, the commissioner of New South Wales Police, said « several improvised explosive devices » were found in a car at Bondi Beach linked to the dead gunman. He said these were being dealt with by bomb disposal experts.
Mr Lanyon added that the deceased offender had been known to the authorities, but there had been no « specific threat ». He said: « If the police had had intelligence there was a risk to the community or to this event, we would have taken significant action. »
The police commissioner said detectives were also investigating the possibility of a third offender « to leave no stone left unturned ».
Meanwhile, horrifying eyewitness accounts continued to emerge later on Sunday. Witness Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, said: « You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could.
« Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible. »
Israel‘s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at his Australian counterpart as world leaders expressed shock and sympathy over the mass shooting.
Mr Netanyahu said he had warned Mr Albanese that his « call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire ».
During the war in Gaza, Israel’s leader has repeatedly sought to link widespread calls for a Palestinian state, and criticism of Israel’s military offensive in the territory following Hamas’ 2023 attack, to growing incidents of antisemitism worldwide.
While others in Israel’s government on Sunday also urged Australia to do more against a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks, Mr Netanyahu went further in attempting to link the attack in Sydney to support for a Palestinian state.
Australia was among several countries formally recognising a Palestinian state in September during the United Nations gathering of world leaders.
According to the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, 159 countries have recognised Palestine. The vast majority of the international community believes that a two-state solution is the only way to end decades of conflict. Mr Netanyahu’s government has said the international push for a Palestinian state rewards Hamas.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington strongly condemned the attack, adding that “antisemitism has no place in this world ».
King Charles III said he was “appalled and saddened” by what happened. The office of Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday said Herzog had reached out to the king in September warning of an “epidemic of antisemitism” in three Commonwealth countries: Britain, Canada and Australia.
Police in London have said they will step up security at Jewish sites. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Lady Victoria Starmer lit their family Chanukiah in the window of Number 10. They also sent their « thoughts and prayers » to those murdered in the terrorist attack.
Source link
